Following her departure from “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” in June after a high-profile arrest, Kim Richards has opened up about her battle with her sobriety and her shameful showdown with police.
“I love sobriety … I’ve always loved sobriety and relapsing was very hard for me,” the Bravo reality star told Entertainment Tonight on Wednesday. “It was not easy … I really wanted to go to treatment because I needed a break from what I was going through at home,” she added.
Richards went on to detail her latest embarrassing relapse at her daughter Brooke’s wedding.
“I was stressed and everybody was looking at me … the bride and groom and the mom who just got out of treatment,” she said.
During the midst of the celebration, the struggling alcoholic said she “looked on the ground and there were two little margaritas and I think I drank one.”
While discussing the April 16 arrest in which she was charged with three misdemeanors, Richards said: “My arrest was my aha [moment]. I get to go away now and rest and take a break from all of this. I don’t want anybody to take this wrong, but I truly needed a break from hospitals and just family and the pressure. I needed to go away.”
Richards was charged with misdemeanor counts of public intoxication, resisting arrest and battery on a peace officer following her alleged drunken meltdown at the Beverly Hills Hotel in April.
She has since completed a treatment program (marking her fourth stint in rehab) and has been sober for over 30 days, Richards claimed.
“I went in and I got to learn a whole lot about myself,” she told “ET” host Nischelle Turner. “I dug deep into my past, things that happened to me as a child, good and bad, teenage years, relationships with all my loved ones, where they need to be mended, where they’re very powerful. I worked on me.”
As for her relationship with sister, Kyle Richards, she said they’ve “talked a couple of times,” which is more than can be said for her former network.
Richards told “ET” that she hasn’t spoken with producers about coming back to the show because she’s been focusing on her treatment, but claimed they’ve expressed interest in having her back next season. “My representative did speak to them,” she said. “They have asked me to come back.”
The second part of Richards’ in-depth interview on “Entertainment Tonight” airs Thursday.
13 Reality Shows Killed by Scandal Before '19 Kids and Counting': 'Megan Wants a Millionaire' to 'Buckwild' (Photos)
These reality television shows made their exit from the small screen in unfavorable ways. Will "19 Kids and Counting" follow a similar path?
Getty Images/TLC/MTV
MTV suspended production on "Buckwild," marketed as the "redneck version" of "Jersey Shore,"Â following the death of cast member Shain Gandee. The 21-year-old was found dead of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.
MTV
Never mind that Liza Minnelli and David Gest separated the following year, VH1 dropped "Liza and David" before its first episode aired because Gest was "impossible to work with."Â
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"Kid Nation," a show about 40 kids running their own town with minimal adult interference, was axed by CBS when it was accused of exploiting the children's welfare and being the "sweatshop of the entertainment industry."Â
CBS
CeeLo Green’s reality show "The Good Life" was canned by TBS days after the musician pleaded no contest to a felony charge of giving a woman the drug ecstasy. He then tweeted: “People who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!”
Getty Images
"Pretty Wild" was slated to become E!'s next reality family success story after the Kardashians. The show followed momager Andrea Arlington and her three wannabe model daughters Alexis Neiers, Tess Taylor and Gabby Neiers. Alexis was arrested after shooting the pilot as one of the members of the "Bling Ring," a group of teenage thieves who broke into celebrity homes like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. "Pretty Wild" included some of the trial in its first season and did not opt to renew.Â
Getty Images
TLC quickly canceled "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" after reports came out that June Shannon, mother to the young star of the series, was resuming her relationship with a man who was convicted of molesting another one of her daughters.
TLC
Ryan Jenkins, the Canadian man suspected of killing model Jasmine Fiore and then taking his own life, appeared first as a contestant on "Megan Wants A Millionaire" and then on "I Love Money 3." Though the incident happened months after he was on either show, VH1 pulled the plug on both. "Megan Wants A Millionaire" was yanked mid-season, while "I Love Money 3" was not set to air for another year.
VH1
"Ev and Ocho" was a VH1 series following newlyweds NFL receiver Chad Johnson (aka Ochocinco) and “Basketball Wives” star Evelyn Lozada. VH1 yanked the show after the new groom was arrested on a domestic violence charge for head-butting his new bride.
VH1
"Armed and Famous" followed five stars (La Toya Jackson, Erik Estrada, Jack Osbourne, Jason "Wee-Man" Acuna and Trish Stratus) who enrolled in the Police Academy in Muncie, Indiana, and served as part of its patrol. The show was canceled after four episodes due to ratings ... And perhaps because Estrada got into a public shouting match with a suspect. Also, a woman sued the show for wrongful entry and illegal search.
CBS
"Jon & Kate Plus 8" became "Kate Plus 8" when Jon and Kate Gosselin announced their split during the show's fifth season finale. Jon wasn't pleased to be kicked off the show and tried to stop TLC from filming his children altogether.
TLC
A&E yanked "The Two Coreys," which featured child stars Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, after Haim suffered a drug abuse relapse while shooting the second season. Feldman said he would no longer deal with his friend's substance addiction. Haim died in March 2010.
A&E
"Flip It Forward" features twin brothers Jason and David Benham in their own HGTV series. Or, it would, had the network not shut down those plans after learning about homophobic, anti-Muslim and anti-abortion statements they’d made in the past.
HGTV
Last month, it was revealed that Josh Duggar had inappropriately touched five underage girls – four of which are his sisters – when he was a teenager. TLC pulled all episodes of "19 Kids and Counting" off the air, but has stopped short of definitively canceling the show. Considering the backlash and how many of its sponsors have dropped out, it's a matter of "when" and not "if" the show will get axed.
TLC
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Though not officially canceled, the Duggars are expected to get the boot from TLC
These reality television shows made their exit from the small screen in unfavorable ways. Will "19 Kids and Counting" follow a similar path?